Welcome to TopDealerSEO.com, Your Source For Automotive SEO and Car Dealer Search Marketing Tips
Some people want to go to the Super Bowl or the World Series to see them live. Others dream of going to the Academy Awards or the Golden Globes, sitting in the crowd and cheering on their favorite stars.
My Dream: Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose.
Yes, I am a bonafide SEO nerd.
Continue reading ‘Missed SES - Glad TK Carsites SEO Went for Me’
Towards the end of this year’s SES San Jose conference, one most the most popular secessions was The Best Kept Secrets to Search, an interactive session covering favorite tactics and secrets learned by veteran search marketers.
Katee Crawford, Online and E-Mail Marketing Specialist of the California Chamber of Commerce, was the first to speak on search marketing secrets. Crawford was accompanied by Jamie Smith of Engine Ready, who helped the California Chamber of Commerce achieve their search marketing goals. The first tips the duo addressed focused on pay-per-click management. First, they recommend resisting the need to change your bids multiple times within a 24 hour period, as it makes it nearly impossible to determine which bid worked and which bid cost your dealership money. In addition, ad copy testing is crucial, but testing new characters in your copy may yield added benefits. For example, adding a ‘TM’ or ‘®’ may add visual appeal or credibility that could boost click-through rates. Utilizing phone numbers in PPC ad copy may also be beneficial, and Engine Ready specifically noticed conversion rates increase significantly after experimenting with 800 numbers. Even from natural search listings this is crucial for car dealers who want to capitalize on potential leads. If you’re a searcher in Louisiana looking for a Shreveport bad credit car loan, you want to come to a site that will provide genuine help in securing a loan, and in this example, there’s plenty of ways to contact the dealership, including a bold Credit Hotline phone number that can’t be missed.
Natural search was the focus of panelist Eric Enge from Stone Temple Consulting. One potential pitfall that many marketers may have come across is misspelled inbound links. Links coming from an external website that are misspelled may be impossible to repair. However, Enge has a method of grabbing that link juice. Simply purchase that misspelled URL and have it redirect to where you want to link juice to flow! If it’s a relevant, high traffic website, the trouble of getting a redirecting URL may easily be worth it. As found with other panelists, Enge also recommended the use of MSN’s Search Funnels to refine keyword research and determine searcher intent.
The last presenter was Richard Zwicky from Enquisite, a search analytics company. Taking the opportunity to seize on presenting true “search secrets,” Zwicky opened up a light-hearted discussion on some rather “black hat SEO” tactics to reinforce your brand and maintain aggressive rankings in the SERPs. Although no one condoned anything other than white hat SEO, including Zwicky, it was a humorous end to an interesting panel of veteran search marketers.
Continue reading ‘The Best Kept Search Secrets - SES San Jose Day 4′
There are plenty of businesses that can benefit from as many tools as possible when it comes to executing and monitoring their SEO efforts. But not all businesses, including car dealers, can afford some of the expensive tools that agencies and larger organizations can afford. Luckily, there are plenty of tools available that are fast, free, and easy to use, without costly subscriptions or investments.
Jennifer Laycock, the Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Guide, moderated this packed session of largely do-it-yourself Web marketers. First up on the panel was Matt McGee of Key Relevance, who introduced a number of cost effective tools. The first was which was the SearchStatus extension for the Firefox browser. This free tool provides useful data, including a webpage’s Google Page Rank, Google Category, Alexa popularity rating, Compete.com ranking, Alexa incoming links, and Alexa related links and backward links from the top three search engines. One of McGee’s choices for keyword research is Keyword Discovery, which also offers a free trial. In addition, tools from the engines themselves, including Yahoo’s Site Explorer and MSN’s Webmaster Center, can provide advanced information about your website and its rankings. Another tool to explore the backlinks to your competitors is Link Diagnosis, helpful for finding places that you can also gain valuable inbound links! SEO-Browser.com can also be helpful to diagnosis any content issues you may have, as it looks at your website much like a search engine sees it.
Next up on the panel was Scott Allen from Hybrid6 Studios. For competitive research, Allen recommended using Compete.com as a resource as finding what works or doesn’t work in your competitor’s search strategy can easily open up opportunities for your own website. In addition, PPC Spyfu is a powerful resource for pay-per-click marketers. Although it’s still officially in Beta testing, Allen also recommended using Competitious for creating an informative matrix of your competitors.
Last but not least in this panel was Joe Abraham from Sage Rock. One of his favorite free resources is MSN’s AdLab, featuring a wide range of tools, from keyword research to demographic research. In addition, Crazy Egg was another suggestion that enables users to visualize traffic patterns on a website. This tool can supplement existing analytics to see exactly what’s happening on your website.
Quality SEO tools and research are more easily within reach than you might think. Car dealers may not have the budget for robust tools to diagnosis, track, and perform research online, but there’s plenty of tools to utilize online that are fast, free, and super easy to use.
Continue reading ‘Fast, Free & Easy SEO Tools to Get You Going - SES San Jose Day 4′
In the midst of new social media tactics, analytics trends, and insights into innovative technology from the search engine themselves, The Business Case for Content Development at SES San Jose brought information back to the core of SEO – content development.
Content is what the search engines read, it’s what attracts links, and it’s also what ends up converting traffic. Without serious consideration to a website’s content or content strategy, the site will be impaired in its ability to drive traffic, improve rankings, and produce sales.
Health Lloyd-Martin of SuccessWorks pointed out a few examples of websites that seriously improved their performance thanks to content. The first example was Zappos.com, whose blog, twitter account, and onsite content, work together seamlessly to drive traffic to individual product pages. In another example, Heather used AmsterdamEscape, an Amsterdam travel website that actually was banned from Google, but was able to slowly redeem itself by embarking on a complete content overhaul on their website. The website is now back in the index and enjoys strong rankings.
The trap that AmsterdamEscape and other Web marketers fall into is focusing too heavily on keyword density. Search engine algorithms continue to advance and become smarter, and as such, keyword density is an SEO copywriting technique that has become outdated. With semantic search just around the corner, a high keyword density will likely have little effect on your rankings, and may even have a negative effect.
SEO copywriting is about producing direct response copy. It’s about providing valuable information, not an overabundance of keywords. With that in mind, savvy SEO companies are looking for those with direct response or journalism backgrounds to fill the copywriting roles within their organizations.
When building a Web page, Forbes.com SEO Lead Annie Stickney finds that beginning with the small things can make an incredible difference when it comes to search friendliness. Having the appropriate Meta keywords, descriptions, and titles in place that accurately describe the on-page content are typically simple steps to execute. For Wordpress users, there are plugins available that even automate these steps! Although many SEOs will have different opinions about effectiveness of titles and Meta content, it’s the low-hanging fruit when it comes to SEO, and its value, even if pertinent to only a few search engines, shouldn’t be ignored. In the case of Forbes.com, which produces ample amounts of content daily, forgoing this simple step really can make all the difference in the SERPs.
Content is an important ranking component for many car dealer websites and Web pages. Looking at a page on used cars Richmond, the page contains the ample content that focuses on the main topic, used cars in Richmond VA. Although the design of this Washington DC used cars dealer is vastly different, the component that remains the same is the content, both on page content and Meta content.
Any car dealer or Web developer would be wise to consider the value of SEO content development, and understand how crucial it is to a website’s search performance. Not only should on-page copy and Meta content be honed, but audio, image, and video content should be optimized for the search engines as well.
Continue reading ‘The Business Case for Content Development - SES San Jose Day 4′
From social networking sites like Facebook to social messaging utilities such as Twitter, information is now able to flow around the Web at a lighting fast pace, enabling users to exchange information with friends, people they trust, and just about anyone else in the world.
Andy Beal from Marketing Pilgrim, a leading resource for internet marketing news, provided an excellent presentation on Twitter and how to use it effectively for online marketing. His presentation, tilted “Avoid Being a Twit on Twitter,” covered the dos and don’ts when it comes to Twitter.
Twitter is a microblogging utility that allows users to get updates about what you’re doing, or perhaps what’s happening at your company. As Andy explained, the most important thing is to get your name right. Choosing a nickname or alias is not ideal for branding, so think carefully when setting up your profile. With many new Twitter users leaving the default background on their website, get creative and change the look and feel of your page to standout. Once you begin Tweeting, follow those users who are in your industry, employees, and perhaps important customers. The analogy that sums Twitter up is that it’s one big cocktail party: keep your eye on interesting conversations, but don’t expect to always be heard. Many people assume Twitter is used for talking about what mundane activities you’re currently doing, and many users do discuss the mundane, but you certainly don’t have to be one of them! Think outside the box, tweet exciting news, tweet from an event or conferences that you may be attending, and be informal and social most of the time without pushing too hard with your business objectives.
Another application that needless to say continues to generate plenty of buzz is Facebook. ACS’s Neil Patel explained how marketers can utilize the current king of social networking applications. One of the benefits to Facebook is the ease at which marketers can reach out to other marketers. In one of Neil’s examples, it was quick to find a Facebook Group already setup that featured SEO professionals in his local area that he can network with. Likewise, car dealers are able to setup groups or join groups of other dealers in their local area or state to keep current on what’s happening within their industry. In addition, Facebook fosters unique applications that third party developers build for the Facebook community. Some of these applications can be particularly useful for marketers, such as apps that list news or new blog posts right on your Facebook profile, alerting your friends, colleagues, and the community of your activities, much like Twitter.
As the Web gets more and more social, utilities and applications will continue to be strong places for marketers. Universal Search and viral marketing all reinforce the need for markets to add just resources to their marketing tool kits.
Continue reading ‘Facebook, Feeds, and Microblogging - SES San Jose Day 3′
So by now, we can see one of the biggest trends in the world of SEO, and that’s the influence of communities and social media. The potential is obviously there to drive traffic, encourage conversations about your dealership, and increase ROI. But the real question is, how exactly can social media campaigns be analyzed and tracked?
This panel had many things to say not only about the impact that social media can make, but also about how to track the buzz and identify if your business goals are being reached.
Rob Key of Converseon stressed that a process should be used to test the success of a social media campaign. This process should include Listening, Engaging, and Measuring/Optimizing. Also, a marketer needs to know what they want to understand about the conversations that are happening in online communities and they need to know what they want to take away from the data sets, whether this data is in the form of YouTube video views, social bookmarks on Delicious, or how many Diggs your content receives.
While Rob discussed his experience with social media marketing, Todd Parsons of Buzz Logic interestingly brought along one of his clients, Breanna Wigle of Military.com, to discuss a campaign done for one of Military.com’s web properties.
Military.com had placed a significant amount of importance on the blogosphere and social media, and rightfully so. Today, there are as many blogs on the Web as there are websites. This gives advertisers such as Military.com and even car dealers an incredible opportunity to tap into these audiences. Whether you successfully manage to become part of the conversation, or even as an advertiser purchasing ad space on these niche blogs, businesses can capitalize on low-cost, high-value exposure on pertinent blogs.
Edmund Wong of iCrossing reinforced the value of the online community discussion. Citing Wired Magazine’s Clive Thompson, “Google isn’t a search engine, it’s a reputation management system.” Basically, social media conversations and blogs are being found increasingly among website listings in the SERPs, and thus it’s important to ensure positive stories are showing up for brand searches.
This panel chose to highlight social media in a different way than other panels. Rather than discussing how social media can be utilized for a campaign, social media services can also be utilized as a low-cost tracking tool: leveraged to find out just what people are talking about. For car dealers, there are many automotive blogs, forums, and community environments on Web, and plenty of opportunities to discuss your dealership. Many dealers have found success, such as one Minneapolis Toyota dealer, who has been able to generate positive exposure in the Prius Owners Group, a blog and community centered on the popular Toyota Prius. As the article referenced here points out, Burnsville Toyota is selling plenty of Prius hybrids, and the online buzz about the dealer can only be helping these sales achievements.
Continue reading ‘Social Media Analysis & Tracking - SES San Jose Day 3′
These days there are more community-focused websites than ever before, with new ones being created every day. But before going headlong into a social media marketing experiment, there are tactics to grasp first to determine just how to approach the multitude of social media services.
The the SES panel on Successful Tactics for Social Media, brought insightful how-tos and tips from the experience of social media marketers. First up in the discussion was Digital Marketing & Convergence Media Consultant Kendall Allen. Her take on social media is that it enables a cross-platform approach to marketing online. No longer are marketers limited to the confines of the SERPs, PPC, or banners – there’s now an opportunity to communicate with current and potential customers much more dynamically within social media.
With this new online marketing outlet, SMM Liana Evans from Key Relevance also understands that there are incredible challenges. The blogosphere and social media now foster communities that truly control brands. If a brand has done something less than popular, bloggers and social media users now can exploit and promote that negative news. But needless to say, if the brand’s actions are positive, that same discussion can also help your brand, boost awareness of your brand, and in the end generate traffic, sales, and even links to your website.
Some marketers will assert that social media’s real benefit is simply inbound links, which is the lifeblood of SEO. However, many marketers diving into social media on a whim will find that it’s much more complicated that it may appear. If you’re after nothing but links, and don’t genuinely contribute to the community and the breadth of users within the community, you will likely be identified as a marketer and will end up doing more harm to your company or brand than good.
If there’s one thing to learn about social media marketing, it’s that social media requires time and effort, not to mention the need for having quality content to promote in the community.
Continue reading ‘Successful Tactics for Social Media - SES San Jose Day 3′
Social media is no longer just buzz, it’s becoming a central component of online marketing as a traffic driver, link builder, and even brand management tool.
The term social media includes a breath of sites, including social networks, social news, blogs and lifecasts, microblogging, and multi-media sharing websites. The draw to social media for many marketers, including panelist Vanina Delobelle, Global Product Director for Monster.com, is the user-centric approach that social media provides marketers.
As already mentioned, social media marketing campaigns have the potential to drive traffic, used to monitor how your brand is perceived among consumers, build targeted links to your content, and expand the exposure of your targeted content and improve user interaction with your content or your website.
The flexibility of social media is perhaps what draws companies of all sizes. For car dealers, social media has the ability to address a local demographic, but social media is truly without borders, allowing marketers to communicate with a global audience if required.
Among the most appealing elements of social media is the increasing convergence with search engine optimization. More social media content is finding its way into organic search listings, and if marketers aren’t actively providing social media-ready content, they’ll be missing out while their competitors are dominating in the SERPs.
Thanks social media’s ability to draw-in links and provide regularly updated content, its increasingly being seen within the high-traffic “Golden Triangle” regions of the SERSs. These are prominent areas along the top left of the results where studies have shown that users’ eyes are most likely to concentrate on. Having your dealer website show up organically at the top of the listings within the Golden Triangle, followed by additional content from social media, such as a YouTube video of your latest advertisement, is a powerful way to improve your dealership’s brand, drive traffic, and increase leads.
An example of this in action can be seen when performing a search query for Shreveport Honda Dealers. Those searchers will find not only a Google Maps listing for Honda Longview Texas, followed by the dealership website, but listed within the first page is also a YouTube video of an advertisement for their latest promotion.
Although social media has its skeptics, it currently holds a valuable yet underutilized place within search engine optimization. If dealers are producing videos and other forms of content, they should not let that content go to waste when they could be helping their dealership’s visibility in the SERPs.
Continue reading ‘Social Media Marketing: What is it and What is it Good For – SES San Jose Day 3′
Each year, SES San Jose attendees get a rare treat in the form of a party called the Google Dance hosted by Google at the company’s Mountain View headquarters. This year the party seems to be bigger, lounder, and even more outrageous than the year before, giving search marketers the opportunity to have a drink and play Guitar Hero with the Googlers themselves.
However, the Google Dance is a term not know to many marketers, and even fewer car dealers. When Google updates its index of included web pages on a monthly basis, some pages are added, while old ones that no longer exist may be removed. This indexing also may include changes to the algorithm which further changes how websites might be ranked.
Although many don’t even see evidence of this process taking place, many become frustrated when their high ranking site suddenly gets bumped lower in the rankings, or perhaps vice versa. This change in the index has become known as the Google Dance.
There are plenty of factors to discuss when it comes to making a solid landing page. For those car dealers that are using pay per click advertising, this is an especially important consideration. Optimizing your landing pages will help reduce bounce rates and improve your conversion rate, and the Landing Page Utopia panel was able to shed a bit of light on how exactly that can be done.
Scott Brinker from Ion Interactive was the first speaker to discuss what makes a successful landing page. While traditional thinking says that the fewer pages there are after arriving at the landing page, the more likely it will be at converting the user. Interestingly, Brinker’s take on the topic was quite a divergence from this line of thinking. He proposed that when executed correctly, a multi-page landing page can actually improve landing page conversion. This is because post-click segmentation can be utilized strategically to better direct the type of customer to the information they’re seeking, even more so than the keyword/ad variation used to get to the landing page. For example, in a hypothetical campaign for Richmond Ford, perhaps the dealer would use truck-related search queries to drive traffic to a general Ford truck landing page. Once the user arrives at the page, the user will be segmented by an option for those seeking either new Ford trucks in Richmond or for those seeking commercial trucks Richmond, differentiating the average consumer versus a fleet vehicle buyer. As Brinker admits, users do want to take fewer clicks when everything else is equal, but sometimes everything is not always equal depending on the segment, the target audience, and the marketing objectives.
Landing pages can also be switched out or tweaked depending on the season. Seasonality affects many different industries and verticals, including car buying. Even financing specials coincide with holidays and specific times of year. Thus landing pages should also be designed to highlight these special holiday offers to get potential car buyers excited about coming to your dealership.
When it comes to landing pages, perhaps more so than static website pages, the panel as a whole agrees that A/B and multivariate testing is becoming increasingly paramount in the creation of a high-converting landing page.
There’s a number of best practices that should typically be addressed for a successful landing pages. This includes keeping the page sparce, without adding clutter. In addition, contact forms should be kept brief as well without requiring the user to input data and personal information that isn’t absoletely necessary.
Rather than discussing best practices, panelist Jonathan Mendez of Ramp Digital took a different approach by discussing what he has determined is the world’s greatest and most succecsful landing pages (shown below).
Needless to say, Google’s classically simple home page has been a success in user interface design. It provides the users with control as they already know what they want to search for, without the need for other content to interfere with their intended quiery. As such, Google has also reduced choice which helps support the flow of what the user is supposed to do, which is to perfom a search.
Landing pages should be current with Web trends and technologies, utilizing the latest Java, ajax, APIs, and/or other languages to help make the page dynamic and easy for the user. The content should also be targeted to the user and appropriate. When designing the page, a good rule of themb is to design it for the goal of the landing page in mind rather than just the person to ensure your conversion objectives are met along with the user’s needs.
